The Future of the Muster Drill?

[negc]

I think you seriously overestimate the civility of scared people in an emergency situation.

 

Give the ship a slight list and the occasional smell of smoke wafting through the air, and there is no way your description of a calm and orderly life jacket distribution will actually happen.

 

Fortunately, the overwhelming odds are that we will never know.

 

Theron

 

I think the experiences of some CCers who were on the Star Princess when some of its cabins were ablaze and the other Princess ship that listed badly as it was leaving one of the Florida ports just a few years ago, might show your assumption to be overly pessimistic. Perhaps some of them can post their experiences in those situations.:) I remember some posts that appeared on CC during one such occasion that indicated that things were much better organized and handled than might have been expected and those posts served to provide calmer and more objective accounts of the situation than what was being reported in the news media at the time.

[lilrod]

I think that is a good idea. On some cruise lines you have to put on your life jacket as soon as you get out of your stateroom. With this on, you have to take the stairs and sometimes you cannot see the stairs and you can fall.

 

Every cruise line can make that change.

[Monkeythyme]

This makes really good sense, especially on today's mega-ships where a trip to the cabin and back could take a while. The drill goes pretty well because everyone knows it's coming, but a real emergency would be another matter altogether.

If an emergency happens on a sea day, most people would be just a deck or two from the muster area. Needing to go to your cabin first would create a two-way stampede. Somebody deserves a REAL gold ship-on-a-stick for this idea.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I think its a great idea. It makes a lot of sense to me. Just because you have a life jacket in your cabin doesn't mean you can return to your cabin in a real emergency...think smoke filled hallways. Anyway, if you actually have to use your life jacket you are having an extremely bad day. It means that all means used to control the emergency have failed and that you must abandon ship...and you can't do it by life boat or by helo. If the time comes to step off the ship and enter the water with your personal flotation device you're odds of survival have become seriously reduced. When was the last time a ship's passenger had to abandon ship by personally going into the water? Don't get me wrong, I want my life jacket but think it is at least as much security blanket as it is practical survival equipment. My guess is that the statistical risk of serious injury is far higher with the scramble back and forth to cabins with life jackets on every sailing than it is from the probability of having an abandon ship event with some passengers missing life jackets.

[skiiergirl]

I love the idea of not having to take the jackets to muster but prefer to have them in the room. Why can't we have them both in the room and at the muster station but just not have to take them to the muster station for drill? ???? Sounds like another cost cutting item rather than a customer service item. That way if a real emergency happens at 3:00 when I am in my cabin I have the jacket with me. If it happens at 3:00 pm and I am at the pool I can go straight to the muster station. That would be a win/win!

[WeLuvVacation]

A brilliant idea, hands down! The wheels of change may grind slow but they do grind!

[English_in_Spain]

It has always been the case that life jackets are in your cabin AND at the muster stations.

 

The instructions given are that in case of emergency, if you are in your cabin, put on your life jacket and go to your muster station. If you are not in your cabin go directly to your muster station - DO NOT return to your cabin.

 

The only thing they are proposing to change (except on the Oasis) is that you do not need to wear your life jacket at the safety drill.

[basso]

It makes little difference to me because I will need my medications. However for Muster drill purposes, the Muster deck won't be crowded with people waiting for the elevators after the drill.

 

The thing I would like to see changed on some lines is having Muster stations on deck. For the drill you have to stand packed like sardines, while you hear a canned talk on what to do in the event there is an emergency. Worse yet is standing there during inclimate weather. I prefer the Princess or Cunard method of meeting at an indoor area where there are seats.

 

When you are lucky and your Muster area is in a cocktail lounge, you can order a cocktail or glass of wine after the talk. When you have finished your drink, the crowds have disappeared and you can go directly to your cabin. If Princess and HAL have similar ships and itineraries that I want to cruise, I might choose Princess to avoid standing on deck for the latter's Muster drill.

 

I know it is more costly, but they probably should have life jackets in both the cabin and the Muster area. In a real emergency I think there would be a certain feeling of comfort wearing your life jacket. If you wouldn't have to return to your cabin as I do, then you could get a life jacket faster going straight to your Muster station.

 

Bill

[TPKeller]

It has always been the case that life jackets are in your cabin AND at the muster stations.

 

The instructions given are that in case of emergency, if you are in your cabin, put on your life jacket and go to your muster station. If you are not in your cabin go directly to your muster station - DO NOT return to your cabin.

 

The only thing they are proposing to change (except on the Oasis) is that you do not need to wear your life jacket at the safety drill.

The blog is ambiguous on this. He says they are going to implement this improvement fleet-wide, but he doesn't say if that includes storing all the life jackets at the muster stations for the rest of the fleet.

 

He does say that Oasis has enough room to store all the life jackets at the muster stations, which may or may not imply that the rest of the fleet, being smaller, does not have enough room. If that is the case, then in the case of a real emergency, passengers will have to take actions different from those they practiced during the drill, which cannot be a good thing, especially if everyone shows up to the muster station without the life jackets that are in their cabins.

 

I'm sure he didn't count on such close scrutiny of the plan by these dedicated folks here at Cruise Critic, but he didn't provide enough information in his blog to answer all these questions.

Theron

[sidari]

"Anyway, if you actually have to use your life jacket you are having an extremely bad day. It means that all means used to control the emergency have failed and that you must abandon ship...and you can't do it by life boat or by helo"

 

The above statement is clearly wrong....... Star Princess Fire ! people wore life jackets or took them to their muster stations until the Fire had been Extinguished.

So just because you may have to wear one in an Emergancy doesnt mean you will have to abandon the ship !

[rauten]

Seems to me the life jackets at the muster station makes sense since the muster drills are not listened to. In an emergency I'd rather be able to go to any muster station to get the vests. Since chaos would be happining in an emergency, the guests would be better served, even the ignorant ones.

[celebrity]

This makes perfect sense to me. I just pray none of us ever experience an emergency at sea.

[DeepWaterMariner]

"Anyway, if you actually have to use your life jacket you are having an extremely bad day. It means that all means used to control the emergency have failed and that you must abandon ship...and you can't do it by life boat or by helo"

 

The above statement is clearly wrong....... Star Princess Fire ! people wore life jackets or took them to their muster stations until the Fire had been Extinguished.

So just because you may have to wear one in an Emergancy doesnt mean you will have to abandon the ship !

 

You missed the point... actually using your life jacket for the purpose intended means going into the water.

[Hornet84]

This appears to be a great idea. No more lugging the life jacket up and down the stairs. Now if RCI only allowed you to muster at specific locations inside the ship like NCL and Cunard rather than standing on deck under the life boats, they'd really have me totally satisfied. My family will see this in action as we are booked on the Maiden Voyage of the Oasis on 12/1/09.

[cruisincha]

Sailed on the Majesty in May, and they had the new system implemented. You still went to the muster station, but it was much more comfortable in the Florida heat. Even in the past, they told you that if you weren't in your cabin in the event of an emergency, to go directly to your muster station. If you were in your cabin, to put on warm clothes, grab any meds, along with your life jacket. Personally, I don't mind muster too much - I like to see who will be in my life boat!!!

 

Jeka, you've got a great explanation!!!!!

 

New system is great.

 

Trish

[intothevoid]

I just hate the quiet but deadly types. It's bad enough that we have to do the muster drill....LOL.

[negc]

You missed the point... actually using your life jacket for the purpose intended means going into the water.

 

That may be your definition, but for many "using your life jacket"means wearing it when you may have to depart the ship whether in a life boat, helicopter, or by going into the water. I'm not sure that your point is especially relevant to the primary discussion involving wearing your life jacket to the muster, or where the life jackets should be stored.:)

[marci22]

It's hard to overstate the comfort of knowing your life jacket is securely locked in your room, waiting for you to come put it on.

 

In an emergency, I wonder if people will stand around in a calm and orderly fashion waiting their turn to be handed a life jacket from a storage container?

 

Theron

 

They won't even stand in an orderly fashion to wait for repurposed leftovers in WJ so let's hope RC never has a real emergency.

[candysmom]

it took to posting #47 by Marielco to mention the dark. I spend about 8 hours every night in my cabin. Imagine waking up with the alarm going off and trying to ascertain where I am and what is going on. I have to orient myself and get to my assigned lifeboat station .I have been on 3 Caribbean cruises but other 6 to Alaska,europe including British Isles and I would want to get on something warm. everyone keeps talking about not spending time in your cabin but to me the most terrifying alarm would be at night.

[Cruising Golfer]

I think this is a fantastic idea and past due... It's hotter than hell wearing that jacket up and down the stairs, not to mention getting hit in the face with them!!! My hat is of to Royal Caribbean and the forward thinking of all envolved!!! GREAT JOB!!!:cool:

[negc]

They won't even stand in an orderly fashion to wait for repurposed leftovers in WJ so let's hope RC never has a real emergency.

And yet when the US Airways plane ditched in the Hudson River several months ago, those passengers and crew were able to overcome any inclination towards panic. Perhaps you should give people a little more credit for being able to rise to the occasion and perform better than expected when faced with a real emergency.:)

[Live4cruises]

This is rather long, and if I need to apologize for the length or the intensity of my feelings on this subject, here's my apology. :) However,

 

I think this is a terrible idea, and hints at rose-colored denial that a disaster is possible. I strongly agree that there should be lots of spare life jackets stowed near the boats, but the primary source should be those jackets stored in the cabins.

 

Think of the throngs of people assigned to any given life boat. Now think of those same throngs in a panic to get life jackets. I can’t see that 2,000 – 4,000 people are going to be orderly and well-mannered.

 

Some of the responses suggest a situation where the ship is listing and people may not have access to their cabins on the “down” side of the ship. These same people may not have access to the life jackets stored at the life boats on the “down” side. Does this mean that the total number of jackets stored on each side of the ship must be great enough for all passengers?

 

I do think most (not all) passengers in most situations will be able to access their cabin in an emergency. This step is needed to put on appropriate clothing and get your meds and other valuables you can stuff in your pockets. If you don’t have the additional reason of collecting your life jacket from your cabin, more people will be apt to show up at their muster station in inappropriate clothes, whether bathing suits or evening gowns. After all, we’re not really going to have to abandon ship.

 

The accidents that come to my mind have occurred at night. More people are going to be nearer their cabins at night.

 

Have you read Burning Cold? It is a not-particularly well written, but engrossing nonetheless, account of the Prinsendam’s sinking in the Gulf of Alaska in the early 1980’s. Disasters can and will happen. Certainly not very often. The reason ships are so safe is the vigilance of the crews and the strictness of SOLAS rules. We’re moving backward if we allow convenience to trump reason.

 

What’s next? We don’t need all these silly life boats. We’ll never need them except as tenders. Let’s cut back to only 4 and sell more unobstructed-view cabins!

[marielco]

it took to posting #47 by Marielco to mention the dark. I spend about 8 hours every night in my cabin. Imagine waking up with the alarm going off and trying to ascertain where I am and what is going on. I have to orient myself and get to my assigned lifeboat station .I have been on 3 Caribbean cruises but other 6 to Alaska,europe including British Isles and I would want to get on something warm. everyone keeps talking about not spending time in your cabin but to me the most terrifying alarm would be at night.

 

I'm surprised that everyone keeps talking about having to "go back" to their cabins in time of emergency to get their life vests and how much better to go straight to the muster station. It seems almost everyone is assuming an emergency will take place during the day and so replicate the drill.

 

Surely this is a false assumption. Most of us spend at least a third of our time on board in our cabins and emergencies by their nature tend to happen more often at night when that is where we will be. So the scenario would be leaving your cabin, in the dark without your life vest, to find your way down or up a number of decks (with the ship maybe listing) to get to your life vest at the muster station. Personally, in that scenario, I would like to wake up and be able to reach out and put my life vest on before I had to negotiate my way around the ship.

 

Life vests in both places - cabin and muster station - would be the sensible solution.

[sidari]

Marielco ..... there are currently lifevests/jackets in both locations on ship! .... to remove them from cabins would i believe be a backward step.... after all when you consider say 1000 people trying to put on lifejackets on a promenade deck while the ship is listing or on fire will only serve to cause more panic.

[SingleSciGuy]

The problem with storing lifejackets in the muster area, is that in an emergency people might try to grab the nearest lifejacket to them, instead of one from the muster station they are assigned to. Remember - this is a huge ship, and if people have the ability to take a lifejacket, they will.

By keeping lifejackets in the cabins, a significant number of people will have them immediately, and the ones that do not will always remember how to get to their cabins. And get to their cabins they will - because they know they can't snatch a lifejacket from the muster station.

 

The new policy ensures that not only may a muster station run out of lifejackets, but then the unfortunate people who followed directions would then have to take someone else's lifejacket from a different muster station, or fight someone for their lifejacket. Ultimately the new policy could lead to panic and violence in case of a serious emergency.

 

Although it may be inconvenient for a cruise line to manage lifejackets in cabins, safety is worth it.